


Bake In the Love

by treefrogie84



Series: Spooktober 2019 [7]
Category: Supernatural, Wayward Sisters - Fandom
Genre: Baking, Claire and Patience are only children and you can tell, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Gen, Jody has a bad day, Minor Donna Hanscum/Jody Mills
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 11:03:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21243044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treefrogie84/pseuds/treefrogie84
Summary: Jody dithers a bit in the baking aisle before going ahead and snagging a bag of chocolate chips and another of peanut butter chips. If they’re going to turn her kitchen into a warzone, she at least wants something she likes out of it, and there damn well better still be oatmeal.





	Bake In the Love

**Author's Note:**

> spooktober prompt: Baking Fall Treats
> 
> (Kaia and Alex are around, but don't show up in this. No worries, I wouldn't do that to you)

“Hey, Jodi-o!” Donna’s voice grates. It’s already been a long day and that voice bodes poorly for getting to sit on the couch and relax tonight.

“What’s up, Donna? I was just getting ready to head home.” She doesn’t bother to hide the exhaustion-- the effort would be lost on Donna anyway, and really, if she’s a bit testy, maybe this won’t turn into a _thing_.

“So, we had a bit of an oopsie-- everyone’s fine, and we’re working on cleaning it up!-- but… we’re out of eggs. Can you run by the store and pick some up?”

“We just went grocery shopping on Tuesday? How can we already be out of eggs?”

Claire mumbles something in the background, far enough away that Jody can’t hear it clearly.

“Oh, good point. Some butter and vanilla too.” Donna juggles the phone for a moment before coming back. “Prolly should add brown sugar to that list.”

Sighing, Jody rubs her temples, trying to stave off the headache. “Baking aisle. Eggs. Wine. Pizza. Anything else?”

“I think we’re good! Thank you!”

Staring at her phone, Jody drops the receiver back into the cradle and buries her head in her hands for a few minutes before shrugging on her jacket and starting the process of getting out of the station.

Everyone’s organized today: no last minute emergencies or requests for time off, no accidents or break-ins that require all hands on deck… even Carl, perpetually a pain in her backside, manages to keep his drunk ass out of her way as she breaks for the exit, three glorious days off stretching out in front of her.

She dithers a bit in the baking aisle before going ahead and snagging a bag of chocolate chips and another of peanut butter chips. If they’re going to turn her kitchen into a warzone, she at least wants something she likes out of it, and there damn well better still be oatmeal.

Claire and Patience are slumped on opposite sides of the couch when she gets home, arms crossed with streaks of flour in their hair and across their shirts. Donna is in the kitchen, wiping down the counters and dancing to a vaguely familiar country song.

Chucking things into the fridge and flipping the oven on, Jody waves a wine glass towards Donna. “Want any?”

“Absolutely!” Donna chucks the washrag into the sink and leans against the counters. “Sorry about the extra grocery trip. We had an oopsie.”

“I figured, since Claire and Patience are pouting on the couch.” Jody sighs, handing over Donna’s glass. “What happened now?”

“Patience’s cookies are stupid,” Claire says sulkily. “And she used the butter I’d set out for mine.”

Jody gestures vaguely towards the flour Claire’s wearing. “And how did that end up with both of you wearing all my flour?”

“‘S’not all of it. Only a few handfuls.”

“My cookies aren’t stupid, Claire. Just because they’re not the same as the ones your mom made--” Patience starts before subsiding when she gets a look at Jody.

Taking a large swallow of wine, Jody carefully sets it on the counter before she closes her eyes. “You’re nineteen and twenty-one and your solution for not wanting to make the same type of cookie was… to fling flour everywhere? And leave Donna to clean it up?” Sighing, she drains her wine and reaches into the fridge to pull out three sticks of butter. “Fine. I’m making _my_ mom’s cookies, and you two are on dish duty.”

The oven beeps behind her. Sliding into the kitchen, Claire tears open the frozen pizza and shoves it into the oven, setting a quick timer before silently grabbing the wash cloth and starting to wipe down the cabinet fronts. “Sorry, Donna. We’ll take care of it from here, if you want to go relax a bit--”

“Sounds great!” Donna grins, grabbing Jody, both wine glasses, and the bottle. She deposits Jody into her arm chair with the wine and the remote before looking at her. “Actually, go get changed. It’s the weekend and you need to be comfy.”

“But the cookies--”

“That butter is hard as rocks. You know it needs to soften more, plus eat dinner. Go change, we’ll do family cookie night after dinner.”

Jody sighs before clambering out her chair and heading towards their room. “We do have oatmeal, right?”

“We’re good, promise, Jodi-o.”

She does feel more capable of parenting four young women once she’s out of her uniform, curled up around a couple pieces of pizza and wine in her chair, and watching Great British Bake Off.

After dinner, Jody drags out her recipe file, stuffed full of yellowed and stained cards. She doesn’t use it much anymore, but some things need to be done old school. Flipping to the cookie section, she pulls out the recipe before pulling down the mixer. “So, this was originally from one of my mom’s coworkers. One of five recipes I took with me to college, actually.”

Setting the mixer to beating together the sugars and butter together, she sets a bag of walnuts in front of Patience at the kitchen counter. “Break those into pieces, about a third of a cup.” Swallowing, she adds the eggs to the mixer, along with the soda and salt. “Claire, I need a third cup each of the chocolate chips and peanut butter ones.

“Mom called them kitchen sink cookies, since you can use just about anything in ‘em, but I found a combo I liked and I’ve stuck to it.” Frowning, she watches the paddle of the mixer spin around. “Owen… Owen was just getting old enough to help, when… Well, when.”

Donna comes up behind her, resting a warm hand on her shoulder and stealing a glance at the recipe card before starting to measure out the oatmeal. “He was about four? That’s when I started helping.” She shoots Jody a grin. “I say helping. I mean stealing the chocolate chips from the bag.”

“Mom didn’t bake,” Claire says quietly. “She just… didn’t. I don’t think she liked cooking really, but how would I know? I was fourteen when she dumped me at Grandma’s. Baking was Dad’s thing. We’d make sugar cookies or chocolate chip or…” She shrugs. “Not that it matters. Without Dad, it didn’t happen.”

“Dad tried. We moved to Madison because it was closer to Mom’s parents and all. We did the best we could, cookies a few times a year, birthday cakes, but…” Patience trails off, staring at the bowl of broken walnuts in front of her. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. He wants nothing to with me? Fine. I’ll make my own traditions.”

“Damn right you are,” Donna points out, pulling a spatula from the drawer. “Ready for those goodies, if you are, girls.”

Claire slides her bowl over, watching Jody upend it into the mixer before adding the walnuts.

“The oatmeal has to be mixed in by hand.” Jody lifts the mixer head, passing the beater over her shoulder to Donna and unhooking the bowl. “The dough is too stiff to do in a modern machine. But its not that hard.”

They all grab spoons, scooping out cookie sized chunks and dropping them onto cookie sheets. If more than a few end up in mouths instead, well, Jody isn’t going to say anything. A cookie dough habit is a lot cheaper than alcohol and doesn’t have nearly the same morning after.

“Alright. Ten to twelve minutes, and then we’re good.”

Patience and Claire shoo Jody and Donna out of the kitchen and start to tackle the dishes. Eventually, they bring out a plate of cookies to share while they watch a movie before the girls head off the bed.

Donna pulls a blanket over her lap, her wine glass dangling from one hand while she flips through the Netflix options and finally goes back to GBBO. “Food’s a thing, you know? What you make, when you make it, who you make it with. It’s always going to be weird when we’re gathering so many traditions under one roof.”

Jody frowns, trying to figure out how to phrase it. “They’re my kids, all of four of them. But it’s complicated, a tangled mess of people and emotions and events and what do I do when they’re ready to leave the nest, for good this time? Did I fuck it up horribly?” Jody asks quietly. “I’m not their mother, or any parent at all. I don’t have any right to be--”

“Telling them to knock off their bullshit? Yeah, Jody, you do. So you didn’t birth them, so what? Still your kids. What’s actually going on? Because since the boatyard, you’ve been...”

“I can’t lose another child, Donna. What do I do when they walk away because they want nothing to do with me?”

Donna’s off the couch in a flash, dragging Jody forward and into a hug. “They won’t. That’s the point of the cookies, isn’t it? Every time they make that recipe, they’ll remember you. Our hearts are big enough, Jodes. You’re included.”

Taking a deep breath, Jody wraps her arms around Donna’s shoulders and collapses into her, relaxing for what feels like the first time in months.

**Author's Note:**

> Jody's cookie recipe is my family's. See below (sorry it's in American... that's the way the recipe is in my notes and I'm too tired to do the conversion)
> 
> 2 1/2 sticks margarine (1.25 cups)  
3/4 cup brown sugar  
1/2 cup sugar  
1 egg  
1 tsp vanilla  
1 1/2 cup flour  
1 tsp baking soda  
1 tsp salt  
3 cup oatmeal (slow cook is best)  
1 cup total goodies: raisins, chocolate chips, nuts, m&ms etc
> 
> beat together margarine and sugars  
add egg and vanilla.  
add flour, soda, and salt. combine well.  
stir in oatmeal and goodies
> 
> Grease cookie sheet.  
bake at 375 for 9-10 minutes.


End file.
